Friends, enemies and Klingons
by RetardedFish97
Summary: Neelix's idea of a holo-school for Naomi backfires when the characters start bullying her. For an upset Naomi, help comes from an unlikely source... Voyager's chief engineer. B'Elanna, having been teased herself, opens up about her past and offers some helpful advice... and some revenge. Mostly funny, first Voyager fic so please review!


**After finding Naomi Wildman crying in a Jeffrey's Tube, B'Elanna is finally forced to open up about her school and academy life.**

**I wanted to write this for a while. B'Elanna is my favourite character, and Naomi my second favourite. If you think about it, they're both quite similar- Half human, half something else, and both clever too. **

**Also, I thought that Naomi would be the perfect person to ask B'Elanna about her past. Children are very blunt, but they're also good listeners and very kind when people are upset. **

**I like writing with a little bit of comedy so there's humour in this too. **

* * *

"Lieutenant, we've got a problem with a gel pack on deck nine."

Torres looked up from where she stood, relieved. Finally, they had found the source of the increase of temperature. Each and every crew member (apart from the doctor and those lucky enough to have the genetic makeup to prevent sweating) was soaked. They could barely breath in the hot, contained space of Voyager and two of her engineering crew had fainted. Oh, no, make that three.

"Lieutenant, Ensign Johnson has just fainted." Another of her Ensigns called from the other side of the warp core.

B'Elanna groaned and hit her comms badge.

"Doctor, we've got another one."

The doctor was irritatingly chirpy when he replied,

"_Ah, the delightful Lieutenant Torres. I can practically hear the sympathy and concern ringing in your voice."_

"Doctor, I have more to do today than be nice to the occasional Ensign who decides to take a nap in the middle of my engineering."

_Her engineering_. The ensigns sat by her smiled slightly at that. She was very protective of _her engineering_, and normally its crew. They knew that, underneath all that Klingon, she cared for them. And they cared for her.

"_Now, now, Lieutenant, there is no need to be so harsh. Just use the medical first aid kit I took the liberty of placing in engineering…"_

"What 'first aid kit'?" She demanded.

"If I may, Lieutenant," Vorik interrupted, "You threw it at Seven of Nine yesterday at 0800 hours."

Under her breath, B'Elanna muttered,

"Ah, that first aid kit."

She turned off the comm and turned to one of the ensigns.

"Move her out of the way until she wakes up. I'm going down to Jeffrey's Tube 7, to try and find this 'damaged gel pack.'"

With that, she left the room, wiping the sweat from her brow as she did.

* * *

She reached the Jeffrey's Tube, opened it and crawled inside. It was even hotter in there. Panting with the heat, she crawled deeper into the tube. As she ventured in, a strange sound reached her. It was a choking sound, like someone crying. It was in the same direction as the damaged gel pack. Wondering who the source of the tears was, she crawled towards the location of the gel pack. Next to the panel she needed to take off, was a little ball. She recognised the long, sandy-blonde hair and crawled up to the little girl, whose body shook with each sob.

"Naomi?"

The little girl looked up, a tear running down her cheek.

"Hey," B'Elanna frowned, moving closer, "What's the matter?"

Naomi only blinked at her, so B'Elanna decided to get on with her work in the hope the girl would open up. She took off the panel and began to remove the gel pack, pausing every now and then to wipe the sweat off her forehead.

"Why are you in here?" B'Elanna smiled a small smile, "It's like sitting in an oven."

Naomi sobbed a little more, wiping her eyes. B'Elanna just turned her attention back to the gel pack, taking it out. She put a new one in carefully, before sealing the panel. When she had finished, she flopped down next to Naomi.

"It should start cooling down in here soon." She said, her voice gentle.

Naomi looked up at her,

"I didn't mind it being hot…"

B'Elanna laughed,

"I think everyone else did… now are you going to tell me what's wrong or not?"

Naomi looked up at her, blinking the tears out of her eyes,

"Promise you won't tell?"

B'Elanna frowned,

"Well, it depends what's happened. If you've deliberately burnt Neelix's Leola root stew to save us all from having to eat it, then no…"

Naomi giggled.

B'Elanna smiled at her and continued,

"But if Neelix is currently hanging out an airlock then yes."

Naomi shook her head,

"No, it's nothing like that," she sniffed and cleared her throat, before she continued, "I was on the holodeck. Neelix thought it would be good to show me what earth is like, so he sent me to an earth school on the holodeck. But I don't like it."

B'Elanna laughed,

"You're hiding in a Jeffey's Tube because you don't want to go to school? I always used to hide in my wardrobe."

Naomi looked at her for a while, trying to work out if she was serious.

"No, I want to go. I like my teacher. But the other children call me thorn-face and delta-quadrant freak. The other day two of the girls pushed me over and took all my books, and then they told me Neelix looked like an ugly teddy bear."

B'Elanna bit her lip to stop herself laughing at the Neelix comment. But the rest of it made her angry.

"What did you do?"

"I ran out of the holodeck and came and hid here," Naomi sobbed.

* * *

B'Elanna put her arm round the girl and gave her an awkward hug. She wasn't used to being the protective, mothering sort. With a slight grin, she looked at the girl.

"You want my advice?" her face turned mischievous, "Never run away. Fight back. Now, I'm not suggesting you hit them but…"

Naomi looked at B'Elanna,

"Did people used to pick on you?" she asked.

B'Elanna bit her lip and looked down,

"Yes. When I was your age, this boy called me 'miss turtle head'."

"That's horrible!" Naomi frowned, giving B'Elanna a hug.

The childish, sympathetic gesture made B'Elanna smile. It gave her a warm feeling inside, and she hugged the girl back, gently.

"Yeah, well I broke his nose," B'Elanna murmured, "Because I was Klingon, I was the one who got into trouble. When I was a bit older, these three girls started picking on me… I dragged one of them off their chair by their hair and starting hitting them… then, there was the academy. There were four 'serious incidents' before they asked me to leave. But each time, it was some nasty comment about me being Klingon that made me get angry, and…"

Naomi's eyes were wide. B'Elanna bit her lip.

"The thing is, running away doesn't help. You need to stand up to them. Maybe not how I did, but still. If people know you can stand up for yourself, they leave you alone. I mean, do you see anyone on this ship argue with me?"

B'Elanna grinned, and the thought made Naomi giggle. But then the girl began to think.

"Seven does, and Tuvok. So does the Captain and Chakotay."

B'Elanna rolled her eyes,

"Yes, but does anyone ever say anything rude about me being Klingon?"

"No," Naomi frowned, "I guess not. So am I meant to hit them?"

B'Elanna grinned.

"You? In a fight? No. But you're a very clever girl, you can get your revenge in more intelligent ways than face-smashing."

Naomi smiled up at B'Elanna.

"Okay… I think I have an idea. Can you help me?"

B'Elanna thought about it. Her shift had just ended. Dinner with Tom would just have to wait.

"Okay, sure."

"Can I ask you one more thing?" Naomi asked, frowning.

"Sure," B'Elanna smiled.

But Naomi's question wiped the smile off her face,

"Do you blame your mum, because you're half Klingon? Because if you were all human they would have left you alone?"

B'Elanna thought about it for a while. Did she? She'd always thought her dislike of Klingons had come from her father walking out. But then again, her mother had bullied her into being a good little Klingon from day one. Her dad had wanted her to be more human. To be fair, she hadn't known where she belonged until she joined the Maquis. And then, later, when she joined Voyager.

"No… I don't. She was just… Klingon, and my dad was human. If I was a full human, the other human children would have accepted me, you're right. And if I was full Klingon, I'd have had Klingon friends and been accepted by all the Klingons. But I wouldn't have been me, would I? I'd never have joined the Maquis, we'd never have ended up on Voyager, I'd never have met Tom, become a chief engineer, made good friends… Maybe, if I was different, I'd have had a proper family. But I would never have found this one- and this is the best family there is."

Naomi looked at her for a while, taking it all in.

"Why, do you blame your dad?" B'Elanna asked.

"No," Naomi replied, "I thought I should. I thought you blamed your mum… we're similar- half-human, half something else…"

"Scary thought, huh?" B'Elanna smiled.

"No," Naomi shook her head, "I want to be like you. But I don't blame my dad, like you don't blame your mum."

B'Elanna smiled as she thought about that. When she was younger, people looked down on her for being Klingon. But in her Voyager family, people looked up to her.

"Thanks," B'Elanna smiled, "Now, should we go get some bullies?"

Naomi nodded, and the pair scrambled out of the Jeffrey's Tube, giggling.

* * *

They reached the holodeck, and Naomi showed B'Elanna the program. B'Elanna made a few simple modifications before following Naomi in.

She was taken aback by the familiarity of the scene. The sun was beating down on the sandy surroundings. A flat, red-and-sand coloured building sat amongst a big green playing field. In front of it, a circle of tarmac enclosed a playground, gyro-swing and all. B'Elanna remembered altering one so it almost tore her arch-enemy apart… but no. She was trying not to teach Naomi to be violent.

* * *

Naomi walked up to a group of children, who stood in a little crowd. As they walked over, the children began to giggle, point and laugh.

"Hey there, thorn-head," one of the girls snarled, "Finally left your precious delta-quadrant."

"Go back to Voyager," another one snarled.

B'Elanna took that as her cue. She walked over, towering above the mean-spirited children with a scowl on her face. When she turned to Naomi, her face softened.

"Miss Wildman, the captain of Voyager has requested urgent assistance from her captain's assistant. Are you able to come right away?"

Naomi turned round.

"I would be, _lieutenant Torres, _but these children are stopping me."

The children gasped as they recognised B'Elanna. In their holo-world, the Voyager crew were famous. B'Elanna laughed at Neelix's over-exaggeration of how important they were, but at least it was helpful. She turned to the children, arms folded.

"You are aware that stopping the Captain's assistant from helping her captain is an offence against the federation. If you refuse to let her leave, Voyager's security will come down here and rescue her."

Most of the children had shrunk away, but one of the little brats still wanted to try their luck. She stood there and stuck her bottom lip out,

"What can you do, Klingon? Set a targ on me? And thorn-face isn't that important. I know you're lying."

This made rage bubble up inside her, but she kept outwardly calm. B'Elanna pretended to hit her comm badge,

"Torres to Janeway, send a security team down. They are refusing to let your assistant leave. Tell them to set phazers to kill."

The remaining children ran away, and Naomi grinned up at B'Elanna. They weren't finished yet. A few clicks of a control released all the rats and frogs kept in the science lab, and sent them chasing after the mean spirited children. The rest of the playground began to cheer, and ran up to talk to Naomi and B'Elanna.

"Sorry, but we have to go," B'Elanna smiled, "It really is important."

She and Naomi left the game, and into the home of Voyager.

* * *

When the pair got outside, Naomi turned to B'Elanna and grinned,

"Thank you, B'Elanna. You're one of the best friends ever!"

She wrapped the surprised half-Klingon in a hug, before running off to find Neelix. Just then, Tom walked over.

"Hey, you were late- I came to see if you were still in Engineering, turns out you're playing on the holodeck?!"

B'Elanna shook her head,

"I'd hardly call it playing, I was helping Naomi terrify a load of kindergarteners out of bullying her and calling her thornhead…"

Tom pulled a bemused face,

"You know, B'Elanna, sometimes you frighten me."

* * *

**So, what did you think? First VOY fic so please review!**


End file.
